17 Dec 2016

PLUM PISTACHIO DESI DELIGHT- MY FIRST PRIZE WINNING DISH IN CONTEST

Hello everyone

It's too long I wrote in my blog. Having lots and lots of recipe in queue to write but somehow couldn't manage to draft them. Anyways, will try to return back in form again , very soon.

Till then , I have a very good news to share with you all near and dear ones, which made me to come back to my blog once again☺☺....




There was a time , I got scared of even thinking about cooking. But nothing is impossible if you have a loving and supportive family, friends and well wishers. And I am one of lucky fellow to have all these in my life. Thanks is not enough to show my gratitude towards my loving ones ☺☺. You all are treasure of my life and inspired me to such an extent that today I am here with an unexpected achievement, which I could never ever think off few years ago.





Earned first place among dessert category in cookery contest organized by ILA. So delighted to have one of my favorite master chef , Nikita Gandhi and Radio Mirchi RJ Tamanna Wahi as one of the judges.




Would like to thank all of the ILA members, judges and all my loving ones. A big thank you to all of you dear from bottom of my heart.







Here goes the recipe of my winning dish .

PLUM PISTACHIO DESI DELIGHT:






1.Pistachio sponge cake

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour-1 1/3 cups - 2 1/2 tbsp
2 1/2 tbsp corn flour
1/3 cup pistachio, toasted and ground to coarse powder
Granulated Sugar- 1/2 cup
Baking Powder-1/2 tsp
Baking Soda-1 tsp
Salt-a pinch
Milk-3/4 cup
Yogurt-1/2 cup
Oil-1/2 cup
Vanilla Essence-1 tsp

 Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Grease and line a 7″ round cake tin.
In a bowl shift together flour, corn flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda 2-3 times.

Now add ground pistachio to it and mix well . Keep aside for later use.

Take  yogurt and sugar in a bowl and whisk till sugar is dissolved.

Add oil and vanilla essence, mix well.

Now add milk and whisk together.
Now add flour in 2 batches and fold to form a smooth batter.
Pour it into the prepared cake tin.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
Rest it on the wire rack for 10 minutes.
Flip on the wire rack .
Cool it completely before wrapping in cling wrap.
Refrigerate until assembling.



2. Plum filled pistachio kalakand


Plum compote

Ingredients

10-12 medium to big plums, desseeded and chopped in even pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla essence


Method:


Add water and sugar in a pan and boil till sugar dissolve.
Now add chopped plums and cook on low flame till they become soft and mushy. Approx 20-25
mins.
Add vanilla essence and mix well.

Remove from flame and cool ,then chill till needed.




Pistachio Kalakand

Ingredients

400 grams soft and crumbled paneer
400 ml condensed milk
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup pistachio, toasted and coarsely powdered

Method :

Mix condensed milk, milk and paneer in a non stick pan and cook at low flame, stirring occasionally to avoid sticking to bottom.
When it starts leaving sides of pan add vanilla essence and pistachio powder.
Mix well and switch off the flame.

Layering:

Now spread half of the kalakand mixture in  a greased tray .
Now spread chilled plum compote all over it evenly, reserve some for final garnishing.
Finally spread remaining half kalakand mixture over compote , and spread evenly.
Let it chill till needed.




3. Creamy plum Custard

Ingredients

1/2 lt milk
25 gm custard powder
Sugar to taste
Fresh plum pieces for serving

Method:

Boil milk in a heavy bottom pan.
Make smooth paste of custard powder in little milk.
Pour prepared paste in milk, stirring constantly to avoid lump formation.
Cook till desired thickness .
Add sugar and cook for another 2-3 mins.
Switch off the flame and cool.
Chill till needed.




4. Pistachio Brittle

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup toasted pistachio

Method:

Take sugar, corn syrup and salt in a non stick pan. Cook on low flame till it turn amber colour .
Be careful not to burn it.
Take off the flame and immediately add pistachio, butter and soda. Quickly mix well and pour over greased foil.
Spread with help of greased spatula.
Make desired shapes using cookie cutter.
Let it cool completely and use when needed.

Final assembling:

Put spoonful plum compote in a dessert glass . Round cut cake slice and place over it . Pour a little custard over it.
Now place round kalakand piece.
Pour more custard over it with some fresh plum pieces, followed by spoonful of plum compote.
Spri
nkle some roasted pistachio and top with pistachio brittle.




Enjoy and happy cooking☺☺☺☺☺

21 Oct 2016

EGGLESS SPINACH PANEER QUICHE

Hello everyone

Here I am posting after a long time but came with a very interesting and delicious recipe. Quiche , it's basically a type of pie with a savory filling and topped with egg mixture. But mine recipe is eggless one and also without butter. Generally its crust calls for lots of butter but as a health conscious fellow I always try to cut down any extra calories in my diet, as much I can. So here is mine version of eggless quiche recipe. Nice creamy filling in a crispy crunchy crust is a real delight for quiche lovers. Hope you all will definitely love this healthier and delicious version.

Step wise recipe is given below.

EGGLESS SPINACH PANEER QUICHE



Time: 1 hr ( leaving the resting time)
Serves: 8

Ingredients

For crust:
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour/ chapatti flour
1 1/2 tbsp semolina
2 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
3-4 tbsp yogurt , as required
For filling:
1 cup spinach, finely chopped
2 big onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 cup crumbled cottage cheese ( paneer)
1/4-1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1/4 tsp Black pepper
Salt to taste

For egg substitute

1 cup milk
1/2 cup soft cottage cheese ( paneer)
1 heaped tbsp corn flour
1-2 pinch salt

Method:

First of all prepare dough for crust.
Mix all ingredients given under for crust section , except yogurt. After mixing hold the flour mixture in your palm and close tightly. If after opening , the flour hold it's shape then proceed with next step otherwise add some more oil and mix well to get required texture.


Now add required yogurt, 1 tbsp at a time and gather the dough together. No need to knead the dough. It should be firm and just gathered together to form a ball. 


** Never add too much yogurt otherwise your crust will not come out crisp.

Now give it a disc shape and wrap in a cling film/ aluminum foil. Keep it in freezer for 30 mins or in fridge for 2hrs.

Now take it out and roll into a thick big chapatti ( slightly bigger than the size of your baking pan) on a floured surface.


** The chapatti may break while rolling due to hard dough but don't worry , keep on collecting the broken edges and roll.

While rolling keep on lifting and moving your rolled chapatti to avoid sticking to base.
Now carefully transfer it to the pie pan. Press it lightly to give the shape of pan and pierce with fork to avoid puffing while baking.
Now blind bake the prepared crust in a preheated oven at 180℃ for 12-15 mins or till its edges start to browning.


Keep it out of the oven and brush with butter or ghee. Let it cool.
Meanwhile prepare our filling.

Heat some oil in a wok, add chopped garlic and saute for a min. Now add chopped onions and saute till transparent. Add spinach and saute till it shrinks. 



Now add crumbled cheese, followed by chilli flakes, black pepper powder and salt to taste. Saute for 2 more mins and is done. Let it cool.


Meanwhile prepare our egg replacement mixture.

Take all ingredients given under egg replacement , in a blender jar and blend to a nice smooth creamy mixture. Keep aside till needed.



When our crust and filling is cooled down. Put filling in crust and spread evenly. Finally pour the prepared egg replacement mixture all over it.


Now bake it in a preheated oven at 180℃ for 40- 45 mins or till you see nice golden colour on its top.



** Never put hot filling or on a hot crust, let both come to room temperature before assembling the final dish. Otherwise the crust may become soggy and ruin the texture of whole dish.

After baking let it come to room temperature then slice and serve with any sauce of your choice.


It is not only delicious but filling too. A single slice can replace your full meal. So bake it and enjoy in your lunch /  dinner or give it in your kids tiffin.



It's really yummilicious treat for quiche lovers in a healthy way.


Hope you all will love this healthy cum yummy treat and will give it a try soon.
Please pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot.

Happy cooking....

5 Oct 2016

EGGLESS DATES AND DRY FRUITS CAKE WITH SALTED DATES AND CHOCOLATE GLAZE WITH CRUNCH OF ROASTED ALMONDS

Hello everyone

I am too fond of eggless as well as healthy baking. Whenever I have to bake, I try to make it as healthy as i can. Today's cake is not new to you all as I made it many times and posted in my blog too. This is one of my favorite eggless and alcohol free christmas cake with lots of dates and dry fruits.The only new thing this time is its shape , size and glaze.

Earlier I made naked bundt cake every time, with this recipe . 


But this time I planned to bake a bigger cake and thought to try something new so gave completely different shape and baked in square cake pan instead of bundt one.

For glaze I used simple milk  chocolate bar and dates syrup. It was just an experiment but turned out really delicious, and is confirmed by my kids.

Recipe is given below. Though it was not planned to add in blog so not having all the step's pics but will try to explain as per my knowledge, best.

EGGLESS DATES AND DRY FRUITS CAKE WITH SALTED DATES AND CHOCOLATE GLAZE WITH CRUNCH OF ROASTED ALMONDS






For Glaze:

Ingredients

1 milk chocolate bar  ( I used cadbury milk chocolate, 90 gms)
1/2 cup dates syrup
2 pinches salt ( you can use more if like more salty)
2 tbsp chopped roasted almonds for sprinkling

Method:

Roughly chop the chocolate bar and melt in a double boiler or in microwave. Keep stirring in between to avoid burning it while microwaving.
Now add salt and dates syrup to it and whisk vigorously to get nice shiny and smooth glaze of pouring consistency. If it seems too thick then add some more dates syrup and mix well to get right consistency. 

It should form nice smooth ribbons when poured with spoon.
Now immediately pour all over the cake . Spread evenly with knife or cake spatula. 



Sprinkle roasted and chopped almonds all over it.



 Let it chill in refrigerator overnight or atleast 4-5 hrs to set the glaze. It will not become completely solid on chilling but will not drip and spread , while handling.

I used milk powder and milk as ran out of white chocolate stock , to make nice pattern on my cake . You can also use melted white chocolate and with help of piping bag make desired pattern on your glazed cake.


This step is completely optional, without this too your cake will look and taste heavenly.
After making pattern, Again let it set for sometime before slicing.



*  Completely cool the cake before pouring the glaze.



* Be quick with pouring the glaze as it gets thicken very soon . So try to pour when it's still  hot. Also spread quickly to get nice smooth finish.



* Do final decoration or cutting once glaze is completely set.



This is one of the simplest glaze you can try and don't forget to share your experience with me.


Hope you will love to try this healthy twist in regular glaze in a simplest way. Please pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot.

Happy cooking....

PEANUTS AND POTATO CHATPATA SALAD ( FAST SPECIAL)

Hello everyone

Auspicious Navratri days are continued and many of us are fasting these days. We too observe fast during every Navratri , on very first day and ashtami . There are many people who used to perform fast all over Navratri period. So the fast special meal we take these days matters a lot. Generally people go for deep fried snacks and ghee laden high calorie dishes while fasting, which is completely wrong and adversely affect their health. We should try to consume lots of fibre and nutrient rich food and let our digestive system rest a bit. So instead of having lots of fried and high calories fast special treats go for some healthy yet filling alternative.

Today I am sharing such a very healthy ,quick , delicious as well as filling recipe with you. Do try and let me know your experience.


PEANUTS AND POTATO CHATPATA SALAD ( FAST SPECIAL)


Serves: 2 big servings
Time: 10 mins max.

Ingredients

1 medium cucumber, finely chopped
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
2 potatoes, boiled and finely chopped
1/2 apple, finely chopped ( optional but adds extra crunch and flavor, of course)
Black pepper powder, as per taste
Sendha namak ( rock salt) , as per taste
Lemon juice , as per taste
1 tbsp coriander leaves, finely chopped
2-3 green chilies , finely chopped( as per taste)
1/2 cup peanuts, roasted

Method

Mix well everything together in a big bowl, except peanuts. Adjust seasoning as per your taste.
Add peanuts only when ready to serve , to maintain crunch .



* You can also use carrots, sweet potato or any other fruit or veggie of your choice.



* Don't add peanuts too early otherwise they will turn soft and soggy.



This can also be consumed on our regular routine as a healthy snacks or breakfast substitute. If having on regular day then can also use some chaat masala to give extra flavour to it.



* If you are a health conscious and weight watcher fellow then can have it as a meal replacement too.
It's just not a fast special dish but a full nutrition packed healthy meal for anyone anytime.
Not only healthy but it gives just burst of flavours in your mouth and leave you fully filled and satisfied , even on a fasting day .

Hope you all will love this healthy cum delicious fasting treat and  definitely give it a try. Please pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot.

Happy cooking....

1 Oct 2016

MOONG PALAK PANEER BIRYANI

Hello everyone 

Biryani is a tempting treat for all who love rice dishes. Even I am too fond of biryani , especially veg version. This time thought to try something different , so tried moong palak paneer biryani. It is full of protein , iron and fibre to fulfill our nutrient needs with deliciousness. It is as spicy as hyderabadi biryani and so tempting to lure any biryani lover.  Though my way of cooking don't call for too much oil or butter hence this one is also one of the low calorie and healthy biryani compared to regular ones. This is also simple to cook and don't need any special utensil or technique, even then you can get quiet authentic taste. Step wise recipe is given below hope you all will definitely give it a try.


MOONG PALAK PANEER BIRYANI 








Serves: 4-5
Time: 1 hr

Ingredients 

2 cup soaked whole moong dal
2 cup spinach , finely chopped
2 cup cottage cheese ( paneer), cubed
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
4-5 green chillies , slitted
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 big tomatoes, finely chopped or pureed
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp black pepper powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
2 tsp Kashmiri red chili
1 1/2 tbsp biryani masala powder
Oil
1 tbsp ghee
Salt to taste



For veggie tempering:

1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
4 green cardamom
4 cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick

1 bay leaves







For rice:

3 cup basmati or biryani rice, soaked for at least 30 mins
water
1 tsp salt
1 star anise
1 black cardamom
4 green cardamom 
4 cloves
2 inches piece cinnamon 
1 inch piece mace
2 bay leaves






For layering:

1/4 cup milk
 1 cup mint and corianderleaves, chopped
1 tsp Kewda essence or rose water
2 tsp ghee 
Few strands of saffron soaked in little milk or red and yellow edible colors 
1 big onion, thinly sliced and deep fried till golden brown 
Fried dry fruits ( almonds, cashew, raisins) for garnishing



Method:

Heat oil in a wok and fry onion till brown for layering .Fry dry fruits in the same oil and drain on a tissue paper. Keep aside for later use. 





Now add ghee and oil in same wok and add all veggie tempering spices and saute till aromatic, then add thinly sliced onions .

 Saute till nice golden, add ginger garlic paste and green chilies ,saute for 2 mins.





 Add all dry spice powder and saute for a minute. 

Add moong and salt, saute for 3-4 mins. Now cover to cook till moong is cooked till done but still crunchy. 




Now add chopped spinach and saute for few minutes till spinach srinks. Add chopped or pureed tomatoes and saute till raw smell of tomatoes goes off .

 Now add paneer cubes , adjust salt and saute for 2-3 mins on high flame to evaporate all extra moisture. switch off the flame and keep aside till layering.




In the mean while start preparing rice too. Boil enough water in a heavy bottom vessel, add all whole spices and salt in it. Add drained rice. 

Let it cook till 80% done but not completely soft. Drain rice in a sieve or colander , may be some liquid will drain. You can use this in your veggies or for kneading dough.





* Don't overcook otherwise you will end up with veggie khichadi. Use water as per requirement, as different rice needs different quantity of water. I don't add too much water to drain but it should be enough to boil your rice till right consistency.

Now for layering, first of all make layer of round sliced tomatoes in the base of the vessel. It will prevent veggies from burning while put on dum.




 Now divide veggies and rice in two to three equal parts. Spread one layer of veggies then spread some of mint leaves all over it then sprinkle, red color or saffron strands soaked in milk. 

Now spread next part of rice on it evenly so that it cover whole veggies.Sprinkle 2 tbsp of milk on it, then sprinkle 1/2 tsp of Kewda or rose water ,spread half of fried or grilled brown onions and some of mint leaves on it. Similarly make another layer of veggies on it and rice layer. 

Finally pour 2 tsp ghee all over it. You can make 2-3 layers of each veggies and rice, as per your convenience and quantity. 

* Reserve some fried onions for garnishing while serving.




Finally cover it well with an aluminum foil so that it can be put on dum. You can also seal it with dough.
Now keep a tawa on low flame and put this biryani pot on it and dum it for 25-30 mins. 

Switch of the flame and let it rest for at least 10-15 mins so that all the flavours and aroma of spices and essences get infused in whole dish. 

Then open the lid and flip biryani with fork or skewer to get nice fluffy rice. Garnish with fried onions and dry fruits.







Your aromatic,easy, yummy and flavourful biryani is ready to be served with tomato onion raita.




* Add some water to moong while cooking, if needed.

* Always try to cook rice and veggies simultaneously so that you will get nice fluffy biryani. Never cook rice too early otherwise it may stick. If it's not possible to cook both at a time then first cook veggies then go to rice. Or add a little ghee in rice and keep aside open to stop further cooking .




* Never mix biryani with spatula, always use a fork or best to flip it by tossing.

* If you ran out of fresh mint leaves then can use crushed dry mint also.




It's a one pot meal that none of the biryani lover can refuse. Its aroma is sufficient to bring you to the dinning room. 

This can be a hit dish for any get together or family party. You need not to serve too many dishes with it only simple raita is enough to accompany it.






Hope you will definitely give it a try, it might be looking a long recipe but believe me it will not take your much effort and time . 





At last you will never regret for trying it, it's a must try recipe for all biryani lovers.
Please stop by and pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot to me.

Happy cooking....